CCC urged to facilitate LGUs’ access to climate fund

MANILA, Philippines – Mindoro Occidental Rep. Josephine Sato urged the Climate Change Commission (CCC) Tuesday to make local government units’ access to the P2-billion People’s Survival Fund easier.

“The CCC and the Department of Finance, which administer the fund, should relax access requirements. Otherwise, what will they do with the money if it is not used?” she said.

Sato said Congress created the huge fund to help LGUs prepare for calamities and other disasters.

The lawmaker said LGUs could apply for funding for climate change mitigation projects but based on CCC data, “only a handful of LGUs have expressed interest in accessing the fund.”

“This is because they are required to prepare and submit at least 20 documents. This long list of requirements discourages LGUs from applying for funding for life-saving programs and projects,” Sato stressed.

Nevertheless, she encouraged local governments to bring their concerns to the attention of CCC and DOF so they could speedily access the P2-billion fund.

“LGUs are at the forefront of the country’s struggle for disaster preparedness and resiliency. They should be provided with all the help they need to boost their capacity to reduce the risk of disasters in their respective localities,” Sato said.

The P2-billion PSF is included in the annual budget.

Earlier, Sato urged the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to speed up the release of funds for victims of recent super Typhoon Lawin, which damaged many communities in Northern Luzon.

She said she received information that the council was “under-spending” foreign and local donations and funds budgeted by Congress for victims of calamities.

Paris Agreement

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas again called for the immediate implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change after it was discovered that the average concentration globally of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surged again.

Taalas said “without tackling carbon dioxide emissions, we cannot tackle climate change and keep temperature increases to below two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era,” which the Paris Agreement hoped to achieve.

“It is therefore of utmost importance that the Paris Agreement does indeed enter into force well ahead of schedule on (Nov. 4) and that we fast-track its implementation,” Taalas said. – With Pia Lee-Brago